2014 Liberkee captured with Jeep grille, turbo?

The last time we spied a next-gen Jeep test car, it was simply a hacked up Alfa with 2-3 extra inches of ride hide height. Today, we’ve spied a new Jeep LIberty prototype, and the iconic, 7-slot Jeep grille is easy to see.

In addition to the visible Jeep grille, we can see some off-road ready Yokohama Geolander AT-S tires and some pretty beefy looking rear suspension parts. Though, to be honest, we found the ride height of this Jeep test car to be the most impressive part!

It looks as though turbo-charging will find its way into Jeep’s lineup with this latest Liberty — there is a yellow sticker over the fuel door that says “PREMIUM.” Whether that means one of Fiat’s (1.4) or the Chrysler Tigershark, remains to be seen. [Allpar note: the 1.4 would make sense as an economy option, given its power and efficiency; the 2.4 would probably be the base engine and 3.2 on the high end.]

The replacement for the current Jeep Liberty will start production after a months-long factory changeover, and will either be called Jeep Cherokee — as the current Liberty is called outside North America — or Jeep Liberty.

David Zatz founded Allpar in 1998 (based on a site he had begun in 1993-94), after years of writing reviews for retail trades. He has been quoted by the New York Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Detroit News, and USA Today. Before making Allpar a full-time career, he was a consultant in organizational psychology. You can reach him by using our contact form (much preferred) or by calling (313) 766-2304